What's `Orchard' about? Your imagination

September 29, 2006|By Nancy Maes, Special to the Tribune

The outdoor performance "Spectacle '06: Twilight Orchard" will be staged for one week in Columbus Park -- spectators can take a stroll through a land of theatrical and artistic creations amid the natural landscape of the park in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.

It's the third installment of outdoor autumn shows staged by the Redmoon Theater -- and like many Redmoon projects, it benefits from a little explanation. Here's our guide.

WHAT IS THIS SHOW? "Orchard" is an outdoor performance that transforms roughly an acre of space by a lagoon in the park. There are 12 different scene "installations" as well as a roving performance. It's theater, but as the name says, this is a spectacle; there's no story with a beginning, middle or end. Audience members can come any time during show hours; seeing the whole thing takes about an hour and half.

WHO'S IT BY? The Redmoon Theater of Chicago is known for its Rube Goldberg-style props and surreal sets, as well as a child-like exuberance and wistfulness. The company's first autumn festival "Sink. Sank. Sunk ..." took place in 2004 in Chinatown's Ping Tom Memorial Park. "Loves Me ... Loves Me Not" was last year in the Jackson Park Lagoon; the underwater story had to be drastically revised at the last minute after Hurricane Katrina struck before opening night.

This year's event will have a cast of 60.

"We wanted to create a magical space that is a garden of the imagination in the park, which is an oasis in a heavily-trafficked urban area, where a diverse group of people will find a sense of family and community," says Redmoon's artistic director Jim Lasko.

WHY THIS PARK? Redmoon chose Columbus Park, which is not well-known, so that spectators can discover a space that was created by landscape architect Jens Jensen in the early 1900s. Jensen was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and his work was inspired by the Midwestern prairie. The park, named after the explorer Christopher Columbus and considered Jensen's masterpiece, has native plants, a lagoon and brooks that flow over stone terraces, as well as a clearing for outdoor theater where "Orchard" is being staged.

ABOUT THE STAGING: "Orchard" calls attention to the natural elements of the park by reflecting them or creating a contrast. Artists -- which included contributors from the community and nearby city and Oak Park school programs -- assembled a bric-a-brac of mundane household objects in fanciful ways that transform them into visual poems. Each dreamlike installation has a monochromatic color scheme. A woman in a yellow room has stacks and stacks of books to read, perhaps about the natural world outside. Moving walls suggesting the interiors and exteriors of elegant 18th Century homes will glide on wheels from place to place to contrast with the simple, peaceful setting of the park. More than 500 bird-size nests illuminated by little twinkling lights will call attention to the small wonders of nature that might otherwise go unnoticed.

`Spectacle '06: Twilight Orchard'

When: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Oct. 9

Where: Columbus Park, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd.

Price: $10; free for ages 12 and under and for residents of nearby Austin, Garfield Park and North Lawndale neighborhoods and Oak Park (show identification at the gate); 312-850-8440 ext. 111 or www.redmoon.org. Last entrance is 9 p.m.